Foldable chair



Aug. 15, 1933. I J. KOVATS 1,922,305

FOLDABLE CHAIR Filed Nov. 19, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1e 6 F1 4. WW 3 M 29 26 "g? W Aug. 15, 1933.

J. KOVATS 1,922,305

FOLDABLE vCHAIR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 19, 1930 Patented Aug. 15, 1933 FOLDABLE CHAIR John Kovats, Bridgeport, Conn, assignor to The Leg-O-Matic Company,

Bridgeport,- 001111., a

Corporation of Connecticut Application November 19, 1930 Serial N0. 496,753

Claims.

tion including front and rear legs mounted to be folded into position beneath the chair seat and means connecting the front and rear legs and the back of the chair whereby the legs are moved to folded position against one side of s the chair seaton movement of the back into folded position againstthe other side of the'chair seat.

" An additional object is to provide a foldable chair including a seat member and'a bracket pivotally securing rear legs and a back to said seat member, a; connection being provided between the back and rear legs whereby movement of the former will be transmitted to the latter, and a catch means being provided for securing the back against casual movement.

Yet another object is to provide a foldable or collapsible chair wherein" the mounting and operating means for the various chair elements are so constructed that they may be stamped or made up of sheet metal and thus produced in quantities at low cost.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings showing a satisfactory embodiment of the invention... However, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the details disclosed since changes in construction, proportion, combination, and arrangement of partsmay be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a bottom plan view of the improved chair in, folded condition; 7

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional View through the center of the chair showing, the parts in un-. folded position, the end portions of the back and legs being broken away;

Fig. 3 isa'rear elevational View looking from the right ofFig. 2;

Fig. 4 isa plan view looking toward the bottom of Fig. 2, the legs being shown in section;

Fig. 5 is a detailed sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6' is a side elevation of the chair in folded condition; i i i Fig. 7 is a central longitudinal sectional view of the chair showing'the relative position of the parts after the initial movement of the back toward folded position;

Fig. 8 is a similar view, the back and legs being noticeably collapsed; a 1

Figs. Hand 10 are respectively side elevational and top plan views of an operating extension for the rear legs;

Figs. 11 and 12 are respectively side elevational and. top. plan views of an operating bracket to be secured to the lower end portions of the sides of the back; and

Fig. 13 shows side and edge views of the catch used for securing the back in extended position.

As shown in the drawings the improved chair includes a seat portion 15 including side frame members 16 secured to the underside of the seat adjacent its side edges. The'seatmember may of course, be of any desired size or shape and as shown is substantially square. 1

According to the present construction the front legs of the chair, designated 17, are pivotally secured as by means of bolts 18 to brack ets 19 in turn secured as by means of screws 20 or otherwise, to the inner sides of the front portions of the rails 16. A cross bar or member 21 connects the front legs 17 whereby their movement together or as a unit is assured and further whereby the legs are braced.

Secured to the side rails 16 rearwardly of the brackets 19, are plates 22 having theirends olfset as at 23 whereby to dispose the body portion of the plate in spaced relation tothe side rails. These plates may be secured to therails by means of screws or the like 24. Each plate 22 is provided with a somewhat inclined slot 25 having an offset or upturned end portion 26.

For the purpose of bracing the front legs 17 in their extended position and also for the purpose of drawing them into folded position, links 27 are pivoted to the front legs as at 28 and the other ends of the links each carry a shouldered rivet 29 operating in the slots 25. It will be obvious that when the rivets 29 are in the upturned portions or ends 26 of the slots, the front chair legs 17 will be braced by saidlinks and held in extended position. That is, any tendency of the legs to fold inwardly will simply result in the rivets 29 being pushed harder against the closed ends of the upturned portions 26 of the slots 25.

Secured to the outer sides of the-rear portions of the rails 16 are mountingbrackets 30 secured as by means of screws 31 and at their rear ends having oppositely extending portions 32 and 33. These brackets 30 provide means for securing the chair back and the rear chair legs to the seat 15 as will later appear.

The chair back may be of any suitable or desired construction but as shown at 34 includes side portions or rails 35. The back 34 is pivoted intermediate its ends between the extensions 32 of the brackets 30 and the lower end portion of the side rails 35 of the back are each equipped with an operating plate or bracket 36, detailed in Figs. 11 and 12. Brackets 36 are disposed against the inner surfaces of the lower end portions of the back and include a flange portion 37 for engaging the rear edges of the side rails 35 and a forwardly extending portion 38 having an opening 39 to receive an operating pin 40.

The rear legs 41 of the chair are pivotally mounted on bolts or rivets 42 and thereby secured to the extension 33 of the bracket 30. Se cured on the upper end portion ofeach leg 41, is an extension or operatin member 43, the same being rigidly, secured to the legs as by means of the pivots 42 and screws 44. The extensions or operating members, as separately shown in Figs. 9 and 10-, include an upper arouate portion 45 and a flange or extension 46 which embraces the rear edges of the legs 41.

Extending inwardly from the outer edge of the arcuate member 45 is a cam slot 47 in which operates the pin 40 carried by the extension 38 of the plates 36 on the back 34. The action of the pin 40 in the slot 4'7 will later be described in detail but here it may be said that on movement of the back this pin is moved and the pin acts to move the legs 41 to folded or extended position as the back is moved to folded or extended position.

The arcuate portion 45 of the operating member 43 has an opening 48 and a link 49 secured to the pin 40 at one end, has its other end se' cured by means of a pivot '50 passing through the opening 48. This link 49 forms part of the connective means whereby manipulation of the back not only controls movement of the rear legs 41 but also brings about movement of the front legs 17. A rod 51 forms a connection between the pivot andthe rivet 29 previously referred to as operating in the slot 25.

Means are provided for securing the back in extended position and thereby prevent, accidental collapse of the chair. To this end the lower portion of the back is out on an incline at 52 and the extension or operating member 43 is provided with a slot 53 through which extends the nib portion 54 of a catch member 55. This catch member 55 is pivoted to extension 43 and to the leg by means of a bolt 56 passing through an ear 5'? on the catch. The mounting of the catch is such as to dispose its nib portion 54 in a position to enter the slot 53 and a spring 58, preferably a small coil spring as shown, is disposed. under the thumb portion 59 of the catch, to normally tend to move the catch about its pivot to have its nib portion pass through the slot 53 and be disposed against the inclined portion 52 of the back bracket 36.

Assuming the chair to be extended as shown in Fig. 2, to collapse it, it is but necessary to depress the catch 55 against the action of spring 58 to Withdraw the nib 54 of the catch from the rear of the back bracket and to then press forwardly on the back in a direction to turn the same about its pivot in a directionto collapse it against the upper side of the seat 15. This will result in the legs being collapsed against the under side of the seat.

Of course, it will be understood that the catch 55 is ordinarily used on only one of the rear legs that while the catch is operated with one hand the back may be operated with the other. Also, an inspection of Fig. 2 will show that the catch engaging the rear of the back holds the front thereof with the seat 15 as shown as 60. Fig. 7 shows the arrangement immediately after the back has been released and moved slightly forward and it will be noted that the pin 40 has-descended slightly in the cam slot 47 but that the rivet 29 is yet in the upturned portion 26 of the slot 25. Fig. 8 shows the parts further collapsed and it will be noted that the pin 49 has moved to the bottom of slot 4'7, that the rear legs have begun to fold under the seat resultin in the pivot 50 moving slightly rearwardly and upwardly causing the rivet 29 to descend into the main portion of the slot 25 resulting in the front legs being drawn somewhat under the seat.

Further collapsing movement of the back results in further similar movement of the legs and when the back reaches a position on the up .er surface of the seat 15 the legs have been folded under the seat, the front legs 1-? being disposed in parallel relation to the side rails 16 and the rear legs 41 being folded onto said side rails. That is, the parts are in the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 6.

In connection with Fig. 6 attention is called to the fact that the chair when folded will stand without leaning against a wall or other objects since it will engage the floor at relatively spaced points as shown. When it is desired to again extend the chair it is merely necessary to engage the back with one hand and the seat with the other and pull the back away from the seat. This will result not only in the back being moved into a vertical position relative to the seat but will bring about movement of the legs into their extended position.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a foldable chair, a seat member, front legs pivoted on said seat member, brackets on said seat member and including oppositely extending portions, a back pivoted to the portions of the brackets extending in one direction, rear legs pivoted to the portions of the brackets extending in the other direction, meanson one of the rear legs having a cam slot forwardly of and above the pivot for the leg, a pin carried by the back and operating in said cam slot, a pin carried by said means on the rear leg, and a link connected at its respective ends to said pins, whereby movement of the back will be imparted to said rear leg.

2. In a foldable chair, a seat member, front and rear legs pivotally mounted on the seat member, a back pivotally mounted on the seat member, an operating member on one of the rear legs, said operating member having a cam slot forwardly of and above the pivot for the leg, a pin on the back operating in said slot, a pin on said operating member, and a link connected at its respective ends to said pins whereby to move the leg to folded and extended positions as the back is moved to folded and extended positions.

3. In a foldable chair, a seat member, front and rear legs pivotally mounted on the seat member, a back pivotally mounted on the seat member, an operating member on one of the rear l a connection between one of the front legs and the operating member whereby the front leg will also be folded and extended as the back is folded and extended.

4. In a foldable chair, a seat member, front and rear legs pivotally mounted on the seat member,

, a back pivotally mounted on the seat member, 15

an operating member on one of the rear legs, said operating member havinga cam slot, a pin on the back operating in said slot, a link pivotally connected to one of the front legs, a rod pivotally connected at one end to one end of said link, a short link, a pin .011 said operating member spaced from said slot, the other end of said rod and one end of said short link pivoted on said pin on the operating member, and the other end of said short link connected with the pin on the back, whereby to move the front and rear legs to folded and extended positions as the back is folded and extended.

5. In a foldable chair, a seat member, front legs pivotally mounted on the seat member, rear legs pivotally mounted on the seat member, a

back having a portion projecting below the seat member when the back is in extended position, said back pivotally mounted on the seat member, an operating bracket on the projecting portion of the back, said bracket including a forwardly projecting portion, an operating extension on one of the rear legs and arranged to be disposed at one side of the bracket when the legs and back are in extended positions, said operating extension including a forwardly projecting portion having a cam slot opening through its upper edge and arranged forwardly of and above the pivot for the leg, a pin carried by the forwardly projecting-portion of the bracket and operating in said cam slot, a pin on said operating extension forwardly of said cam slot, and a link pivotally connected at its respective ends to said pins whereby as the back is moved to folded and extended positions the leg will be moved to folded and extended positions. I

' JOHN KOVAIS. 

